Stuff Brian Does - Boston Marathon Nutrition Recap

The marathon was literally no sweat for Brian

So we are back and settled after our whirlwind trip to Boston for the 2011 Boston Marathon. After a red eye flight that left us with 3 hours of sleep, we spent all of Sunday at the expo and practicing riding the T so Brian would know exactly where to go and how to get there first thing on Monday morning.

Brian rockin' his Boston Marathon hat, jacket, and medal

Then on Monday, while Brian breezed through the marathon at an ever increasing pace, his parents and I got stuck in subway traffic, trying to fight the crowds to see him run. He didn't make it easy for us to catch him at the places we hoped to see him because he was running much faster than we anticipated.

The final result for his 26.2 mile journey through Boston: 2 hours and 43 minutes!! Thats a 6:14 minute mile pace! This beat his PR by 26 minutes - which was 3:09 to qualify for this race. Looks like training at Boulder's 5,400 feet paid off! (I would guess the fact that he'd been running every weekday and then 5 hour runs peaking mountains on the weekends also helped a bit too).

Brian finished 309th out of 24,338 people that entered the race - most of whom had to qualify to run

As thoughtful as Brian is, he did give me credit to helping him stay fueled and healthy throughout the training. Eating a mostly vegan and gluten free diet while doing that much intense cardio exercise is something that most people would say is a dumb idea. But by making sure he eats a varied diet, dense in nutrients, Brian proves the naysayers wrong. Of course this is not my diet of choice, and I have found it very challenging to make sure he still eats delicious and, most importantly, nutritious meals. However, if it is what makes his body respond best, than that is what is important. Whatever works for your body is best for you!

Leading up to the race I made an extra effort to make sure he was getting nutrient dense, energizing foods. Some key training ingredients were coconut water and lemon to maintain good pH balance, sea plants to provide important minerals and B vitamins, lots of leafy greens to provide a good source of iron and numerous vitamins, chia seeds for power and endurance, chicory, apricots, dates and raisins for fiber, and quinoa for protein packed carbohydrates. I made a large batch of power bars for him to eat throughout the week before the race and during our trip.  Here's one of the week's power recipes:

Quinoa Crunch Protein, Carb & Fiber Packed Power Bar

Cinnamon Raisin Quinoa Crunch Power Bars
Ingredients
1/2 cup soaked and drained quinoa
1/2 cup almond butter (I used homemade)
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup pecans
2 tbs 100% organic maple syrup
1 tbs cinnamon

Toast quinoa in a large frying pan on medium heat for several minutes, stirring constantly, until it turns a light brown - but be careful not to burn it! Set aside. Mix pecans, raisins, and almond butter in food processor. Pulse in toasted quinoa, cinnamon and maple syrup until mixed but not blended (should be thick and coarse). Spread onto a greased 9x9 glass casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Let cool and cut into bars.

Seaweed 'n Ginger Granola

I also made him a seaweed and ginger granola, made of toasted quinoa, seaweed sprinkles, sunflower and chia seeds, and ginger to give him a good source of minerals and B vitamins. It had a very unique and oddly addicting flavor and crunch.

One thing I haven't experimented with yet is nutrition for during the race. To stay energized and balanced without upsetting their stomachs, many runners eat gels throughout the marathon. Since many of the typical brands have strange chemicals, sugar, and caffeine (which Brian doesn't usually have much of), it seemed like a bad thing to introduce to his system in the midst of a meaningful race. Luckily, Brian came across the more natural and less scary Honey Stinger Gels, which are loaded with B vitamins (a major concern for vegetarian athletes since B vitamins are mostly found in animal sources). While they are honey - making them not vegan- this isn't a concern for Brian because he eats mostly vegan because animal products upset his system, not for the principal of the matter.  Whatever the makeup, they apparently worked!

The bartender told Brian this beer was GF
- it was NOT and got me sick :(

So what does a 2:43 Boston Marathon runner eat post-race? After bananas to avoid muscle cramping and a power bar to get through the walk to the restaurant (yes, post-race we walked a couple miles to eat to avoid the subway mess), Brian's Monday afternoon and evening diet entailed beer, a gluten free nutella pizza, more beer, and a chocolate lava cake for dessert...and then I think more beer.

Hey, we all deserve a little binge here and there after working hard like Brian did. But before making it home from Boston, he was already talking about how he couldn't wait to get back to our healthy and more comfortable homemade meals. 

celebrating at Cheers

Brian's proud, supportive parents

What's next? Training for the Steamboat 50 - a 50 mile race in the mountains of Steamboat Springs! Nutrition will be a HUGE part of that training and experience, so I'll be sure to share our discoveries along the way.

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